Well, yesterday, the swaybar disco light on the wife’s Rubicon continued to flash after wheeling, I had gone through similar problems and changed out the motor on mine with the manual disconnect from EVO . Here's a little write up on what we did to resolve her problem. I managed to remember to take a few pics until dirty hands put a stop to that....

Knowing what the inside of the assembly looked like on mine (full of rust and water), I wanted to tackle hers asap so as not to fry the motor and connections if things were siezed up inside.

First step was to remove the motor from the assembly, without disconnecting the harness. There are 3 bolts to remove that hold it on. Carefully separating the motor from the assembly and bungying it out of way, we were able to test if in fact the motor was still operating. It was.
Using a socket extension, I tried to push the plunger in the assembly, sure enough, it was seized, and needed a few taps to free it up. It should have moved with ease, only the force of a spring holds it forward. ( it was, by the way, seized in the unlocked swaybar position).

I proceeded to remove the entire swaybar from the jeep.


2 bolts on the swaybar links, and the 4 bolts holding the swaybar in place.
Sitting the unit on the workbench, I proceeded to remove the 5 bolts holding the unit together, also one bolt holding the rubber damper on.


Carefully separating the unit, there is a gasket to remove and set aside.
Once apart, there it is, a greasy, mucky mess, with rust to boot.




Time to clean it up as much as possible. I used brake clean, rags, Q-tips, and more of each. A dremmel or drill with soft wire brush helped to clean the rust off some of the parts.


With all parts cleaned, the unit got some new grease on all surfaces. (not shown)
Easy on the grease here though, too much is not good and will restrict movement.
When putting it back together, I used diff gasket goop, along with the gasket hoping for a better seal,( I also did the same when putting the motor back on the unit.)
So, inside, the plunger moves only about 1/2" to mesh, or unmesh the gears on each end of the swaybar. I wish I could have had some pictures of this, but it's all internal when the unit is together, but you will understand it if you do it.. Basically, the plunger moves the gear on the forks, to the other set of gears on the short end of the swaybar, which results in no gears locked together and free movement. When the plunger is released ( swaybar connected) a spring pushes it back to it's resting position, which lets the gear in the fork lock each side together .
This pic shows the gear in the forks that moves from side to side.

Ok, a few pushes on the plunger with the socket extension, making sure it unlocks, and locks back up, all is working fine , and it's a matter of getting it back on the jeep. ( side note, my first test didn't work, and I attribute that to using to much grease on the gear teeth)
If you do this job, be sure to make a reference of how it all sits on the jeep before you take it off .
I didn't remove the wiring harness for 2 reasons. I wanted to test the motor, and, I didn't want to break any water seal that may be there. I wasn't necessary to remove for this situation anyhow.
Next, change my bent axle flange,, doh .. never ends.....

 

So what do you feel was the cause of all the rust and gunk in there? I know it was from water, but how did the water get in? Was this rig subjected to a lot of water crossings or is this just from rain?
How old is the Rubi. this is from?

Thanks for the right up!
It is good to know in case mine ever messes up.
May even want to make this a year or two maintenance thing.

 

This is from a 2008 Rubi, actually, when I did mine last year, it had more gunk in it than this one.
Yes, we have done many water crossings, so for sure, the odds of water getting in there is high, either from the ends where the swaybar enters the housing, or elsewhere. When we cracked it open on the motor end, out came a few ounces of water...
I intend get into there at least once a year to grease both of our jeeps, for the time it takes, I feel it's worth it.

For a quick check, I would disconnect one swaybar link, have someone actuate on and off the disconnect switch( or as on mine, the evo manual disconnect) while the other person lays under the jeep testing ( pulling on the swaybar) to ensure that it is actually engaging and dis-engaging..They could seize in the disconnected position....